Thursday, March 19, 2015

If you haven't read all of the details about the new House Republican budget, let me be clear: this Republican budget is going to hurt families throughout the 4th Congressional District. It’s a budget that’s out of touch with our values, and it favors the privileged few over our seniors, our children, and families in need across our communities.

It’s time for us to take a stand.

Republicans in Congress are hurting our country by destroying the social safety net - turning their backs on our neighbors, while loosening regulations for their friends in big banking. The Congressional Budget Office warned that their approach could even lead to cuts in spending on local programs that provide nutrition assistance for our neediest families.

But I think there’s a better way.

I believe that budgets are about people and it's time we got our priorities straight.

I believe we must continue to raise the minimum wage, invest more in our children's futures, support small businesses, protect our seniors, and expand access to quality affordable health insurance.

As your representative, I'll work to increase federal funding for our schools, protect homeowners throughout Prince George’s and Anne Arundel Counties from the threat of foreclosures and declining property values, and fight to create jobs in our communities, starting with bringing the FBI headquarters to Maryland.

And I’ll never vote for a budget like the one the House Republicans just released.

For the second consecutive year, the Obama administration more often than ever censored government files or outright denied access to them under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, according to a new analysis of federal data by The Associated Press.

The government took longer to turn over files when it provided any, said more regularly that it couldn't find documents, and refused a record number of times to turn over files quickly that might be especially newsworthy.

It also acknowledged in nearly 1 in 3 cases that its initial decisions to withhold or censor records were improper under the law - but only when it was challenged.More

Your state representatives are considering groundbreaking legislation to update the state’s Public Information Act for the first time in 45 years.

But some legislators want to make sure that the agriculture industry continues to be exempt from basic transparency.

Pollution harms communities and waterways no matter where it comes from – why treat agriculture pollution differently? Marylanders need access to these secret pollution control plans to ensure that agriculture runoff is not polluting the water that we rely on for drinking, fishing and recreation.

Currently, state law contains a loophole that keeps the pollution control plans of many farms operations secret, even though most of these farms receive our tax dollars to help manage their pollution.

Fortunately, legislation introduced in the Maryland legislature will correct this unfair secrecy loophole. Senate Bill 695 and House Bill 755 would significantly update the Maryland Public Information Act for the first time in 45 years.

Transparency is essential across all sectors of government and industry, including agricultural waste management. Maryland citizens deserve access to information about pollution control plans, especially those supported by our taxpayer dollars.

Whether they were uttered once or a million times. these catchphrases lit up Studio 8H.

20. "No one can resist my Schweddy Balls."

The ho-hum banter on the "Delicious Dish" sketch had always been funny, but it reached a new level of insanity when Molly Shannon and Ana Gasteyer were joined by Season's Eatings chef Pete Schweddy (Alec Baldwin), who had a strange, questionable way of touting his yuletide ball-shaped treats. The way Ana Gasteyer utters, "Whip 'em out" is just chilling. - Louis Virtel

WASHINGTON - Just as the Federal Reserve seems to be inching toward an interest rate hike because of the strengthening U.S. job market, its task is getting more complicated:

Several key sectors of the economy are flashing some signs of weakness.

Housing, manufacturing and consumer spending — the U.S. economy's main driver — have been tepid of late. The pace of home building plunged in February. Factory output is slowing as a rising dollar makes U.S. goods costlier overseas and weakens exports. And retail sales remain sluggish, with Americans spending less at stores and restaurants last month.

The main engine of strength has been the U.S. job market. Employers have added more than 200,000 jobs for 12 straight months, and unemployment has reached a seven-year low of 5.5 percent, a rate typical of a healthy job market.

Could employer-provided health insurance be going the way of employer-sponsored pension plans?

Rick Lindquist, president of Zane Benefits, which specializes in individual health insurance reimbursement for small businesses, says: Not only could it happen; it’s happening already.

Lindquist and Paul Zane Pilzer (who founded Zane Benefits), argue that case in their new book, “The End of Employer-Provided Health Insurance.” As surprising as you may find the title, get a load of its subtitle: “Why It’s Good for You, Your Family and Your Company.”

Shortly after the death of their daughter, a New York couple’s grief was interrupted by a battle with an entity they never imagined: her private student loan lender. Inheriting a dead child’s student loan debt is a problem too many parents have had to face, and one that a new piece of legislation aims to eliminate.

The American nonprofit OneVoice Movement – under scrutiny by a U.S. Senate panel over possible links to a campaign to oust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – quietly filed paperwork that would allow it to engage in political activism after two leading Republican lawmakers questioned its use of government funds, FoxNews.com has learned.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., sent a letter Jan. 29 to Secretary of State John Kerry asking whether the group ­– as a recipient of almost $350,000 in recent grants from the Obama administration’s State Department – had violated its tax-exempt status when it began backing the virulently anti-Netanyahu Victory 15 campaign in Israel earlier that month.

Cruz also publicly asked whether Obama – who’s had a well-documented adversarial relationship with Netanyahu – had “launched a political campaign against” the Israeli leader in the run-up to the election which was held on Tuesday. More here

When you hear the term mini-stroke, you might think it’s no big deal, just a tiny blip in your brain function.

But “mini-stroke” actually is a misnomer.

A more accurate term is a “warning stroke,” according to the American Stroke Association (ASA), and they are no small matter.

Both a mini-stroke (the medical term is transient ischemic attack or TIA) and a full-blown stroke are caused by an interruption in blood flow to the brain, usually from a blood clot.

“The symptoms of a TIA are oftentimes very similar to those of a stroke — these include slurring of words, facial drooping, sudden arm or leg weakness or numbness, and balance problems,” notes Howie Zheng, M.D., a neurologist at The Neurology Center at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore.

Other symptoms may include the sudden onset of confusion, coordination problems, and visual disturbances.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Monday that Republicans do not need to moderate their views to win voter support and that he will run as a conservative if he decides to seek the Republican Party presidential nomination.

"To win the center, you don't have to go to the center. You have to lead," Walker told conservative activists.

Walker made the comment during a telephone town hall meeting with conservative activists, part of a fundraising event for Tea Party Patriots, The Washington Post reported.

His comments followed a weekend trip to New Hampshire in which Walker and one of his top 2016 rivals, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, both campaigned for early positioning in the 2016 presidential race. More

WBAL-TV 11 News has learned that a number of police accountability bills have either been killed or are on life support. The demise of the bills come as a shock and because of the widespread community support.

Advocates of legislation holding police more accountable for their conduct have marched, rallied, lobbied and testified.

Law enforcement responded in large numbers, too, but in opposition and police got the ear of committee chairman Delegate Joe Vallario

Uri Wollman, the spokesman for the left-wing V15 political action group, has one word in response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s warning Tuesday that leftist nongovernmental organizations are busing Israeli Arabs to the voting booths.

“Bullsh–,” Wollman told WND in an interview.

He was responding to Netanyahu’s declaration on the day of the election that the “right-wing government is in danger” and Arab voters “are going en masse to the polls.”

“Left-wing NGOs are bringing them on busses,” Netanyahu said.

V15 is easily the most active NGO working to defeat Netanyahu by leading a get-out-the-vote-organizing drive aimed at replacing his government with a center-left coalition.

V15 has drawn international attention for partnering with One Voice, a US.-U.K. non-profit that has previously received funding from the State Department.

It was OneVoice that reportedly hired 270 Strategies, a consulting firm whose senior leadership is comprised mostly of former top staffers for President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. 270 Strategies has been consulting in V15′s campaign.

This is to inform you to appear in the Court on the March 26 for your case hearing.You are kindly asked to prepare and bring the documents relating to the case to Court on the specified date.Note: The case may be heard by the judge in your absence if you do not come.

The copy of Court Notice is attached to this email.

Sincerely,Samuel Church,Court Secretary.

It's coming around again!

It looks official…a notice to appear in court. An attachment with more information. And those threatening words if you don’t appear: “The judge may hear the case in your absence.”

“It’s going to want you to click on that court appearance to see what the email is about, what court you’re supposed to appear to,” says Detective Kristen Gillespie.

But the attachment will download a virus and worse yet: install a key logger.

“That is waiting for you to put a certain password in, it’s going to detain that information, any of your personal information, your bank information,” says Gillespie.

And the email itself should really send up red flags. It doesn’t give you a courtroom number, it doesn’t give you a judge’s name, it just gives you an attachment to click on for more information.

We asked—and the clerk of court says they don’t even send out emailed notices to people. If anything, it will be a letter in the mail.

“A letter from the clerk. And if you do not respond you will get a letter back if you don’t respond in time you’ll receive another letter from the court saying they did not get your response,” says Carol Oates.

“The ordinary citizen may not know that something that appears to be from the court, isn’t from the court,” says Joe Altadonna.

If you get a questionable email, don’t click on the attachment. You can also copy and paste part of the email into Google search, and that will often tell you if it’s a scam as well.

Democrats blocked a bipartisan human trafficking bill Tuesday, launching a filibuster to protest an abortion provision that has turned into a major ideological test for both parties — and that threatens to hold up Loretta Lynch, whom President Obama has picked to replace Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

The flareup that manages to tie together immigration, abortion gender and race — Ms. Lynch would be the first black female to head the Justice Department — and has quickly escalated into a major test between Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, and Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat.

Mr. Reid won Tuesday’s fight, though not without several defections. Four Democrats joined 52 Republicans in backing the trafficking bill and the abortion provision, though that was still four shy of the 60 needed to overcome the filibuster.

“The American people will not forget it,” Mr. McConnell vowed ahead of the vote, which he said was an embarrassing predicament for Democrats.

On 18 March 2015 the Wicomico County
Sheriff’s Office was alerted to another attempt at a scam targeting
older members of our community. In this incident, an individual called
one of our county residents informing them that a family member was
involved in an accident and was under arrest but could be released upon
the payment of a cash bail. The person targeted with this call was
cognizant that it was a potential scam and did not fall prey to these
unscrupulous individuals. The potential scammers even called back and
attempted to get the cash left out for a Fed-Ex pick-up. At this time it
appears the phone call originated from outside the United States.

The
Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind all of our
residents to be wary of these types of calls. No law enforcement agency
is going to contact you and ask you to mail cash or electronically
transfer funds for bail.

If you receive any of these suspicious
calls inform the caller that you are contacting your local law
enforcement agency for assistance. Never mail cash or electronically
transfer funds or provide account information to anyone over the
telephone.

A proposal to expand the number of visas offered to high-tech workers to help corporations broaden their talent pools has divided Senate Republicans, some of whom argue it only makes immigration problems worse, The Hill reported.

A large number of the H1-B visas for foreign workers are given to technical industry companies, but at least two GOP lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee complained that proposed increases — from 65,000 to 115,000 — will be abused as more foreign workers get hired at the expense of U.S. workers, The Hill said.

"It doesn’t close the loopholes or prevent abuse. It doesn’t make sure that American workers are put before foreign workers," Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said at a hearing Tuesday. "It only increases the supply of cheaper foreign labor."

His colleague, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who has spoken out loudly against comprehensive immigration reform, noted a "huge degree" of abuses in the program, The Hill said.

Incident:False Name to Avoid Prosecution

Date of Incident: 12 March 2015

Location: E/B Rt. 50, Salisbury, MD

Suspect:Ta’sha Rashawn Ward, 23, Salisbury, MD

No Photo Available

Narrative:On 12 March 2015 a deputy stopped a vehicle operated by Ta’sha Ward of Salisbury after clocking her on radar at 80 mph on Rt. 50.Upon identifying herself to the deputy; she had trouble reciting her date of birth. During subsequent contact with Ward, the deputy began to doubt the veracity of the identity she provided and she was also unable to produce any identification. Ward relented and provided her true name. Ward stated that he license was currently suspended which is what lead to her attempt to provide a false identity.

The deputy also observed that Ward had a four year old child in the vehicle that was not restrained in a car seat.

The deputy placed Ward under arrest and transported her to the Central Booking Unit where she was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. After an initial appearance, the Commissioner released Ward on Personal Recognizance.

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Incident:Driving While Revoked

Date of Incident: 15 March 2015

Location: Walnut Street, Hebron, MD

Suspect:Scott Alan Hastings, 21, Mardela Springs, MD

Scott Hastings

Narrative:On 15 March 2015 a deputy stopped a vehicle operated by Scott Hastings of Mardela Springs for an equipment violation. During the stop, the deputy learned that the State of Maryland had revoked Hastings’ privilege to drive back in 2013.

The deputy placed Hastings under arrest and transported him to the Central booking Unit where he was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. After an initial appearance, the Commissioner released Hastings on Personal Recognizance.

Charges: Driving While Revoked

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Incident:Burglary / Theft

Date of Incident: 17 March 2015

Location: 26000 block of Pratt Road, Hebron, MD

Suspect:Jacob Alexander Morris, 18, Hebron, MD

Jacob Morris

Narrative:On 17 March 2015 a deputy arrested Jacob Morris for the theft of motor vehicle. During the investigation, the deputy took a report for the theft of a vehicle from a residence in the 26000 block of Pratt Road. After taking the report, the deputy observed the vehicle being driven by a neighbor in the vicinity of where the theft occurred. The deputy stopped the vehicle and discovered that the operator, Jacob Morris, had entered the victim’s residence through an unlocked door and took the key to the car, all without the victim’s permission. Morris is a neighbor to the victim.

Morris also helped himself to money from the victim’s residence too.

The deputy placed Morris under arrest and transported him to the Central Booking Unit where he was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. After an initial appearance, Commissioner detained Morris in the Detention Center in lieu of $75,000.00 bond.

Charges: Burglary 1st Degree

Motor Vehicle Theft

Theft

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Incident:Attempted Murder

Date of Incident: 17 March 2015

Location: 1000 block of Nokomis Avenue, Salisbury, MD

Suspect:Amanda Myeisha Holbrook, 29, Salisbury, MD

No Photo Available

Narrative:On 17 March 2015 at 5:13 PM, deputies responded to a reported stabbing in the 1000 block of Nokomis Avenue in Salisbury. Upon arrival, it was discovered that the resident, Amanda Holbrook, was sitting in her living room, armed with a knife waiting for a male acquaintance to enter her residence. Upon the subject entering and making contact with her, she stabbed him in the chest.

During the investigation, Holbrook made statements that implicated her intent to do harm to the male subject. The victim in this case was transported to PRMC with a serious injury as a result of the stabbing.

The deputy placed Holbrook under arrest and transported her to the Central Booking Unit where she was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. After an initial appearance, the Commissioner detained Holbrook in the Detention Center without bond.

Charges: Attempted Murder

Assault 1st Degree

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Incident:Most Wanted Arrest

Date of Incident: 18 March 2015

Location: Salisbury, MD

Suspect:Holly Ann Lathbury, 29, Millsboro, DE

Holly Lathbury

Narrative:On 18 March 2015 a wanted fugitive, Holly Lathbury, surrendered herself at the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office. Lathbury was being sought on a District Court Bench Warrant that was issued for failure to appear in a Driving Suspended Case. Lathbury had also recently been featured on WBOC’sDelmarva Lifeas a “Most Wanted” fugitive.

The case stems from February 2009 when Lathbury was charged with driving while suspended. During the history of this case, Lathbury failed to appear for trial on four separate occasions, each time resulting in the issuance of a bench warrant. Her most recent failure to appear in this case dated from July 2014.

The District Court Commissioner detained Lathbury in the Detention Center in lieu of $25,000.00 bond pending her next court date in this case.

Charges: Failure to Appear

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Incident:Vandalism

Date of Incident: 18 March 2015

Location: 8000 block of Doris Street, Delmar, DE

Suspect:Danielle Ann Brown, 27, Laurel, DE

Danielle Brown

Narrative:On 18 March 2015 at 1:50 AM a deputy responded to a report of a disorderly and intoxicated female that would not leave a residence in the 8000 block of Doris Street in Delmar. Upon arrival, the deputy met with the individual in question, Danielle Brown of Laurel. During the investigation the deputy learned that Brown had become disorderly outside the residence and allegedly threw a flower pot into the windshield of a pick-up truck.

The deputy placed Brown under arrest and transported her to the Central Booking unit where she was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. After an initial appearance, the Commissioner released Brown on Personal Recognizance.

Charges: Disorderly Conduct

Malicious Destruction of Property

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Incident:Assault

Date of Incident: 18 March 2015

Location: 9000 block of Bethel Road, Willards, MD

Suspect:Brandon W. Linton, 29, Willards, MD

No Photo Available

Narrative:On 18 March 2015 at 11:00 PM a deputy responded to a residence in the 9000 block of Bethel Road in Willards for an altercation between two roommates. During the investigation, it was told to the deputy that Brandon Linton assaulted his roommate during an argument over gasoline. During the investigation the deputy observed signs of injury on the victim that corroborated the account.

The deputy placed Linton under arrest and transported him to the Central Booking Unit where he was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. After an initial appearance, the Commissioner detained Linton in the Detention Center in lieu of $5,000.00 bond.

Charges: Assault 2nd Degree

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Incident:WCSO Activity

Date of Incident: 17 March 2015

Location: Wicomico County

On 17 March 2015 a deputy arrested Paul A. Calderon, 21 of Laurel, DE. On a Circuit Court Bench Warrant that was issued after Calderon violated the terms of his probation in a CDS Possession and Contributing to the Condition of a Child case. Calderon was detained without bond.

Paul Calderon

On 17 March 2015 a deputy arrested Shaunteya R. Williams, 21 of Laurel, DE, on a District Court Bench Warrant that was issued after Williams violated the terms of her probation in a theft case. Williams was detained on a bond of $5,000.00

Shaunteya Williams

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Incident:WCSO Activity

Date of Incident: 18 March 2015

Location: Wicomico County

On 18 March 2015 a deputy arrested Brett Morton Dilworth Jr., 22 of Salisbury, on a District Court Bench Warrant that was issued after Dilworth violated the terms of his probation in a theft case. Dilworth was detained on a bond of $25,000.00

Brett Dillworth

On 18 March 2015 a deputy arrested Justin Paul Marvel, 24 of Salisbury, on two Circuit Court Bench Warrants. The warrants were issued after Marvel violated the terms of his probation in two Burglary cases. Marvel was detained on a bond of $50,000.00

Justin Marvel

On 18 March 2015 a deputy arrested Johmon L. Handy, 24 of Salisbury, on a Circuit Court Bench Warrant that was issued after Handy violated the terms of his probation in a Robbery case. Handy was detained without bond.

Johmon Handy

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Incident:Most Wanted Arrest

Date of Incident: 18 March 2015

Location: Wicomico County

Suspect:Michael Wayne Carey, 35, Greenbackville, VA

Michael Wayne Carey

Narrative:On 18 March 2015 one of Wicomico County’s Most Wanted Fugitives was located in Snow Hill following his recent profile on local media sites, to include 47 ABC’s Fugitive Friday. Carey was sought on two Wicomico County warrants issued in August 2014 after he violated the terms of his probation following convictions for credit card fraud. Additionally, an additional warrant held by the Anne Arundel County Sheriff in connection with a theft case was also served on Carey.

Carey was detained without bond in the Detention Center pending an initial appearance in front of a Circuit Court Judge.

LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigerian troops have ousted Boko Haram from a northeastern town while Cameroon soldiers killed several of the extremists in an attack on a Nigerian village, military officials reported Monday of the latest successes in a multinational bid to curb the Islamic uprising in northeast Nigeria.

"FLASH: Nigerian troops have this afternoon routed terrorists from Bama ... Mopping up operation is ongoing," the Nigerian Defense Headquarters announced on Twitter referring to a town held by the insurgents for more than six months.

An earlier tweet Monday said they had "completed clearing terrorists out of Goniri" in neighboring Yobe state.

By last week, the regional offensive that began at the end of January had liberated 36 towns, Mike Omeri, the Nigerian government spokesman on the insurgency, said Wednesday.

Three patients at a Kansas hospital have died after eating Blue Bell ice cream tainted with listeria, but food-borne illness was not the sole cause of their deaths, health officials said Saturday.

"These people had been in and out of the hospital for other reasons," Sara Belfry, spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, told the Los Angeles Times. "This was a contributing cause, not the only cause."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said five people in all were infected, all of whom were being treated in the same hospital for unrelated problems. Four of the victims drank milkshakes made with a single serving of Blue Bell's Scoops ice cream at the hospital, a finding "that strongly suggests their infections were acquired in the hospital," the CDC said.

March 20th 2015 is the next 3rd Friday in Downtown Salisbury, and proves that even in the winter months,

Downtown Salisbury has tons to offer! The restaurants and shops will be open with 3rd Friday menu specials, and the bars are ready to rock with live entertainment booked all night long.

Salisbury University Gallery

Salisbury University | Downtown Campus, on North Division Street, will open two brand new exhibitions this Friday, Light Shadow Wave Water by Edward Brown and the new works of Kristin Walsh. Brown, an associate professor in SU's Art Department, uses charcoal to draw dark and light tones, accentuated with calligraphic lines, to render the rhythmic and nebulous forms of waves at Assateague Island.

Kristin Walsh's work also draws from landscapes, and investigates how changing uses of the environment refuse any clean distinction between "natural" and "manmade." She uses installation, photographic prints and sculpture to construct a series of object-landscape scenographies to make visible how and why an object creates a spatial void in a landscape.

Photography Show. Works from area photographers will be on display, and judged by Carl Goldhagen. In addition, the solo exhibition of Scott Kasden | Photography on Metal will be on display in the Foyer Gallery. The AIG is located on the lower level of the Gallery Building off the Plaza.

Listen to live music, or bring your instrument and jam out! The show starts at 6pm! SWAC Headquarters is located on Poplar Hill Avenue on the 2nd floor above Season's Best Antiques, and elevator access is available.

The Downtown Bars and Restaurants will all be ready for 3rd Friday with specials for the dinner crowd, and plenty of entertainment planned for the night. Headquarters Live , Downtown Salisbury's brand new music venue will have Cold Gin , an amazing Kiss Tribute Band at 8pm.

The Brick Room will have live music from Breakfast. Mojo's will have Flint Eastwood, Cellar Door will have Josh Pryor and Market Street will have DJ B-Side. Echelon will have the Zion Reggae Band, and Brew River will have live music from the Bo Dickerson Band starting at 6pm, and maybe...just maybe... an open Dock Bar! Who's ready for Spring?

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Watchdogs concerned with the health of the Chesapeake Bay found common ground Wednesday with farmers on some changes to Maryland’s long-range plan for managing phosphorous and other fertilizer runoff that pollute the watershed.

The administration of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan confirmed Wednesday that stakeholders from the agricultural and environmental community are agreed on the creation of an advisory committee to be tasked with overseeing and promoting anti-polluting regulations to be put in practice by 2022.

“There has always been agreement on the problem,” Hogan spokesman Doug Mayer said. “Now we have agreement on a solution that represents one of the most important steps forward in environmental policy in the last decade.”

Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, is asking an appeals court in Washington, D.C., to rein in the massive power that would be granted to President Obama and future presidents if a lower court’s decision stands.

The ruling threw out a legal challenge to Obama’s executive-memo driven amnesty program for millions of illegal aliens, despite the fact that amnesty was rejected by Congress and the plan would contradict state law.

Arpaio, represented by attorney Larry Klayman of Freedom Watch, is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to step into the case thrown out earlier by Judge Beryl Howell.

Arpaio contends the administration’s claim that “prosecutorial discretion” allows Obama to promise the benefits of citizenship to millions of illegal aliens is wrong.

“What is to stop a future president from simply directing the Internal Revenue Service to stop collecting taxes on capital gains or stop collecting income taxes above a rate lower than set by Congress?” asked a reply brief and request for oral argument filed Monday.

“Indeed, who would have standing to challenge taxes left uncollected from another person? What is to stop a future president from refusing to enforce environmental laws, labor union protections, securities laws, voting rights laws, or civil rights laws, on a claim of prosecutorial discretion?

“May a future president direct the IRS not to collect the penalty supporting Obamacare’s ‘individual mandate,’ producing actuarial collapse?”

DOVER — The 2015 Firefly Music Festival in Dover is gearing up to be the biggest one yet.

An increased demand for four-day passes, which start at $299, is reaching the sold-out mark of 90,000 attendees returning to the Woodlands for the four-day-long music event Thursday June 18, through Sunday, June 21. Event organizers announced March 18 that single-day general passes will not be available for the fourth Firefly Festival.

“We've seen an unprecedented increase each year since Firefly's inaugural 2012 festival derived from our success in multiple areas,” Firefly Music Festival Director Greg Bostrom said in a press release. “This, in turn, eliminated our ability to offer single-day general admission passes in 2015 as we plan to welcome 90,000 attendees, which will bring us to capacity this year."

Festival organizers also have released the daily lineup, which reveals that Paul McCartney will be the headliner Friday, June 19, followed by Kings of Leon Saturday, June 20, and The Killers Sunday, June 21.

I spent some time with the highest tenured faculty member at Chicago Law a few months back, and he did not have many nice things to say about “Barry.” Obama applied for a position as an adjunct and wasn’t even considered.

A few weeks later the law school got a phone call from the Board of Trustees telling them to find him an office, put him on the payroll, and give him a class to teach. The Board told him he didn’t have to be a member of the faculty, but they needed to give him a temporary position. He was never a professor and was hardly an adjunct.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. —A Maryland budget plan restoring education funds and state employee pay that had been scaled back in Republican Gov. Larry Hogan's budget proposal advanced in the House of Delegates on Wednesday.

The House, which is controlled by Democrats, gave initial approval to legislation containing the state's $40.7 billion budget. The House is scheduled to work on a companion bill needed to balance the budget Wednesday evening.

"We restored our priorities: education, taking care of our state workers and critical, critical social and health needs that our Maryland citizens deserve," said Del. Maggie McIntosh, a Baltimore Democrat who chairs the House Appropriations Committee. "We did this without raising taxes."

A New Zealand bar manager and his two Myanmar colleagues were sentenced Tuesday to two and a half years in jail by a Yangon court for using a Buddha image to promote a cheap drinks night.

The ad posted on Facebook in December triggered outrage in the former junta-ruled country, where surging Buddhist nationalism and religious violence has sparked international concern.

Philip Blackwood, who worked at the VGastro bar in Yangon, was found guilty of insulting religion along with the bar's Myanmar owner and manager, after the New Zealander posted the offending mocked-up photo of the Buddha wearing DJ headphones.

The trio were sentenced to two years in jail for insulting religion through written word or pictures and a further six months -- both terms carrying the punishment of hard labour -- for breaching local authority regulations.

They were held responsible for protests that erupted outside the bar over the image.

Judge Ye Lwin said that although Blackwood, 32, posted an apology, he had "intentionally plotted to insult religious belief" when he uploaded the photo.

SELBYVILLE — A mother who sent her 4-year-old daughter to daycare with a backpack full of heroin has pleaded guilty to one charge of endangering the welfare of a child.

Selbyville resident Ashley Tull, 30, was arrested Oct. 6 after sending her daughter to a Selbyville daycare with the backpack.

Judge E. Scott Bradley sentenced Tull to one year of probation and substance abuse evaluation and possible treatment. She also must fully cooperate with the Division of Family Services. Tull's attorney Thomas Pedersen said Tull has custody of her daughter and two older children, a 9-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl.

A former federal official who spent 25 years handling Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests says former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's explanation of her use of private email defies reality and the practice was against the law.

In a column in Politico, Dan Metcalfe, a former director of the Office of Information and Privacy at the Justice Department who was responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act for the executive branch, says Clinton violated the Federal Records Act by using her personal email account exclusively for all official communications.

"I thought when I retired from the Justice Department in 2007, I was done with records-related scandals," Metcalfe said, noting that he served as the federal government's chief information-disclosure "guru."

"In that position, I had weathered many a Clinton records scandal during the 1990s — about two dozen, all told, including two that amazingly have still never become public — and I thought I had seen the last of them. At the very least, I thought I had become immune to being shocked by anything in that vein.

"It turns out I was wrong on both counts," Metcalfe wrote.

Metcalfe said that beyond breaking the Official Records Act, Clinton's decision to maintain all of her emails on a private server also shields her emails from FOIA, which he said is "truly unprecedented."

American voters fell all over themselves to vote for the first black man as president. But of course he’s not really black. He’s half black. And half white.

And that was a problem initially to none other than Michelle Obama’s mother.

As the New York Post reports, “long before Michelle Obama became First Lady, her mother had misgivings about her marrying a young man named Barack Obama — because he was biracial.”

“In a Chicago TV interview that aired during Obama’s 2004 U.S. Senate campaign — and newly resurrected by Michelle Obama biographer Peter Slevin in a book due out next month — Marion Robinson confessed to being “a little bit” wary about her future son-in-law being the product of a white mom and black dad.”

But it could’ve been worse.

“That didn’t concern me as much as had he been completely white,” Robinson laughed in the appearance on WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight.”

Congresswoman and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz will seek a seventh term in the U.S. House instead of running for the U.S. Senate.

Spokesman Sean Bartlett confirmed her plans Tuesday, saying she can be most effective in her current seat and wants to use her DNC position to help elect a Democratic president next year.

Wasserman Shultz's term as party chair expires in January 2017. Her decision ends speculation that she would seek the seat held by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio if he decides to run for president instead of a second term.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), along with Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), and Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) have introduced a bill, the Democracy Restoration Act, to strengthen communities by reducing recidivism rates through the restoration of voting rights to individuals after they have served their time and have been released from incarceration. S. 772 would restore voting rights in federal elections to the million Americans who are out of prison and living in the community. Studies indicate that former prisoners who have voting rights restored are less likely to reoffend, and that disenfranchisement hinders their rehabilitation and reintegration into their community. Once again, companion legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman John Conyers (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee.

In the United States, an estimated 5.85 million adult citizens are currently disenfranchised as a result of a criminal conviction. While 15 states and the District of Columbia already restore voting rights upon release from prison, 35 states continue to restrict the voting rights of people who are no longer incarcerated. In 11 States, a conviction can result in lifetime disenfranchisement. Several States deny the right to vote to individuals convicted of certain misdemeanors. Earlier this month, the Maryland Senate passed legislation that would restore voting rights for former felons on parole or probation.More

France's government is likely to back a bill banning excessively thin fashion models as well as potentially fining the modeling agency or fashion house that hires them and sending the agents to jail, the health minister said on Monday.

Style-conscious France, with its fashion and luxury industries worth tens of billions of euros (dollars), would join Italy, Spain and Israel which all adopted laws against too-thin models on catwalks or in advertising campaigns in early 2013.

"It's important for fashion models to say that they need to eat well and take care of their health, especially for young women who look to the models as an aesthetic ideal," Health Minister Marisol Touraine told BFM TV on Monday.

They say the only two things that are certain in life are death and taxes. President Barack Obama wants to add one more: voting.

Obama floated the idea of mandatory voting in the U.S. while speaking to a civic group in Cleveland on Wednesday. Asked about the corrosive influence of money in U.S. elections, Obama digressed into the related topic of voting rights and said the U.S. should be making it easier — not harder— for people to vote.

Just ask Australia, where citizens have no choice but to vote, the president said.

"If everybody voted, then it would completely change the political map in this country," Obama said, calling it potentially transformative. Not only that, Obama said, but universal voting would "counteract money more than anything."

Daiichi-Sankyo allegedly gave kickbacks to physicians to prescribe its drugs

Baltimore, MD - Attorney General Brian E. Frosh announced today that Maryland, joined by multiple states and the federal government, has secured a settlement with Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. ("Daiichi"), a global pharmaceutical company, to resolve allegations that it defrauded government healthcare programs by providing kickbacks to physicians to prescribe its drugs.

Under the agreement, Daiichi will pay more than $39 million to the states and the federal government. The Maryland Medicaid Program will receive $42,965.81, a portion of which will be paid to the federal government, which partially funds the program.

The African-American sheriff of Milwaukee County has issued a no-nonsense challenge to Missouri's lieutenant governor who claims President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder are obsessed with race: Prove it!

David Clarke, one of Wisconsin's leading law enforcement officers, took strong exception to what Peter Kinder said Monday, when he told Newsmax TV's Steve Malzberg, "there is more racism in the Justice Department than there is in anywhere I see in the St. Louis area."

Kinder, Missouri's second in command, went on to accuse "the Holder and Obama left — and their minions … are obsessed with race while the rest of us are moving on beyond it."

But Clarke isn't buying it.

"I don't know what he had to substantiate that when you make those kind of charges, regardless of who it is," Clarke told Malzberg.

"And I'll say that with Eric Holder, President Obama, [New York City Mayor] Bill de Blasio or [the Rev.] Al Sharpton. He better have the accurate data and substantiation to make such a charge."

Clarke and Kinder's verbal swordplay comes a week after the Justice Department released a scathing report about the Ferguson police force, which they said was plagued by racism and anti-minority police tactics.